"Optimism is like a muscle, the more you use it the stronger it gets", these were the words from Robin Roberts who was speaking about her journey through her recent illness that she endured in the public eye.  I watched the special that focused on what she went through as she battled MDS a rare blood disorder that occurs to people that have undergone chemotherapy.  We all know of people around us and in our own family that have battled illness at various points.  Some have been quite successful, while others still may struggle to regain some sense of normalcy with their health.  I don't believe that it is an accident that a person with a positive attitude can endure and overcome anything, including poor health.  This is not to say that a person with an opposite belief system could not do the same, however, I do feel that if you create the conditions for what you want manifested, it can then occur sooner and more expectantly. I like that people can liken a belief system that has the capacity to get stronger or perhaps that you can grow along with it.  We all have faced those periods of time in our lives when we were challenged by a circumstance that we thought might be insurmountable.  If you look at what happens in the world constantly, the number of examples of what people in other countries go through in order to achieve democratic or religious freedom, can be such a model for what heroism may look like.  Therefore I do believe that if we were to exercise more of our optimistic muscle, that it could certainly get stronger, even if it is a little bit at a time.  Just like working out in the gym, we would develop greater spiritual endurance while capable of resisting or bouncing back from sudden unforeseen circumstances.  What ever your situation may be, remember that things are rarely permanent.  A positive perspective can allow you to flex your optimism muscles and as a result, your mind, body spirit connection will begin showing those toned results that you may have been looking for.